Is breast cancer a part of Lynch syndrome?

[Hopeful]

http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/14/4/110

Hopeful

[Jackie07]

Though the youngest among six siblings, I was the first one to be diagnosed with a life-threatening disease when my life-long brain tumor was found and resected in 1990. 8 years later, Mother was diagnosed with and treated for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. We didn't think in the 'genetic direction' even when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. But when I had the recurrence and then learned about 2nd Brother's (10 years of my senior) newly found colon cancer, I did some research and found that our family cancer history fit the HNPCC (Lynch) profile.

Cancer happens when our own cells fail to mend the problems arising in the process of reproducing. Environment is often an important factor, but failure to self-regulate is often due to our genetic component. That's why not all people get the same disease even if they live in an identical environment.

Glad science has made so much progress.

[gdpawel]

A prospective study has confirmed that Lynch syndrome, an inherited disorder that predisposes to many types of cancer, significantly raises the risk of both breast cancer and pancreatic cancer.

http://cancerfocus.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3673

[Jackie07]

Am J Surg Pathol. 2013 Apr;37(4):579-85. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0b013e3182796e27.
Histologic evaluation of prophylactic hysterectomy and oophorectomy in Lynch syndrome.
Karamurzin Y, Soslow RA, Garg K.
Source
Department of Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Abstract
Women with Lynch syndrome (LS) are at increased risk for endometrial (EC) and ovarian carcinoma (OC). Current surveillance recommendations for detection of EC and OC in LS patients are not effective. Small studies have shown that prophylactic hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (P-TH-BSO) are the most effective and least expensive preventive measures in these patients. Data regarding histologic findings in prophylactic specimens in these patients are lacking. All LS patients who underwent P-TH-BSO at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 2000 to 2011 were identified. Slides were evaluated for the presence of endometrial hyperplasia (EH), EC, OC, or any other recurrent histologic findings. Twenty-five patients were identified, with an age range of 36 to 61 years. Fifteen patients had a synchronous or prior colorectal carcinoma, and 2 patients had a history of sebaceous carcinoma. Focal FIGO grade 1 endometrioid ECs were detected in 2 patients; 1 was 54 years of age (MSH2 mutation; superficially invasive), and the other was 56 years of age (MLH1 mutation; noninvasive). Focal complex atypical hyperplasia, unassociated with carcinoma, was seen in 3 patients, ages 35 and 45 (MLH1 mutations) and 53 years (MSH2 mutation). One patient (44 y, with MSH2 mutation) was found to have a mixed endometrioid/clear cell OC and simple EH without atypia. The OC was adherent to the colon but did not show distant metastasis. In our study, P-TH-BSOs performed because of the presence of LS revealed incidental EC and/or EH in 24% of cases and OC in 4%. The ECs were low grade, confined to the endometrium, and seen in patients older than 50 years. Prophylactic hysterectomy allows detection of early lesions in LS; these lesions appear to be small and focal. This small series of prophylactic hysterectomies may provide some clues about LS-associated endometrial carcinogenesis.